JAKE Humphrey candidly revealed how fellow kids TV presenter Holly Willoughby robbed him of his “big moment” in a new interview with Davina McCall — only for the clip to mysteriously disappear.
During an emotional chat with Davina’s Begin Again podcast, Jake, 47, opened up about his childhood bullying trauma, his relationship with his grandfather and a brutal rejection from BBC Sport earlier in his career.
He also spoke about his friendship and working partnership on CBBC with Holly. The pair were popular with young viewers in the early 2000s and presented CBBC’s coverage of talent show Fame Academy.
Jake revealed the pair’s chemistry was so good that channel bosses proposed they have their own show which they would have complete creative control over.
A delighted Jake saw it as his “big moment” and couldn’t wait to get planning, but his dreams disappeared the following day when Holly tentatively called him and said she wanted to pursue a presenting career with ITV.
Jake said the blow taught him a valuable lesson about the industry and not relying on others to share your vision.
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The clip was published on the Begin Again TikTok and Instagram accounts before seemingly being pulled and edited out of the podcast.
The Sun has contacted a representative for Begin Again for comment.
BT Sport presenter Jake recently shared a series of Fame Academy throwback images referencing the pair’s time on-screen.
He previously revealed the pair were so close they even shared a bed together.
In an unearthed interview from 2012, Jake told The Mirror that while he and Holly were working on Celebrity Fame Academy, she would stay at his flat in London as she was based in Brighton.
Jake recalled: “Eventually, it got to the point where we couldn’t be bothered to get the blow-up bed out so for about six months we slept in the same bed.”
Jake stressed that “nothing ever happened” romantically between him and Holly, but joked that may have been a different story if he hadn’t been dating.
Jake teased: “I wouldn’t want to say I met my wife too early but I would just say Holly’s worst habit is she sleeps naked – joking, of course.
“Holly’s a good mate but I look back on my time with her and wonder what might have been but I was going out with Harriet at the time and she lived in Leeds.”
Holly’s career in the spotlight began when she was scouted by a model agency at the Clothes Show Live aged just 14.
She then broke into television presenting, hosting shows on CBBC, before landing a job with its telly rival CITV.
That springboarded her career towards This Morning, which she signed for in 2009, and she worked on the ITV daytime show up until last year.
Holly has now swapped terrestrial TV for her own YouTube show, Together, which is produced by husband Dan’s Hungry Bear Media and currently has over 26,000 subscribers.